Over 6.9 lakh candidates have applied to appear in the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) for primary schools, scheduled for December 11.
West Bengal Primary Education Board announced the figures on Thursday, the deadline for the submission of application forms online.
Around 2.45 lakh candidates had written the last TET for primary schools, held in January 2021.
Candidates aspiring to teach in government-aided primary schools (from classes I to V) started submitting their applications online on October 14. Partha Karmakar, deputy secretary, academic, West Bengal Board of Primary Education, told The Telegraph: “Around 6.9 lakh candidates have applied to write the test.”
A board official said those who would crack the test would have to appear in an interview, the final hurdle to cross before being selected for appointment as teachers.
“The applicants must understand that merely qualifying in the examination will not make them eligible for a job. Appearing in the interview successfully is a must,” he said.
On October 20, past midnight, police bodily lifted candidates who had written the primary TET in 2015 and were demonstrating in Salt Lake, demanding that they be recruited as teachers without having to appear in the upcoming interview.
The police had to act as the protesters were squatting for several days in front of the board’s office in Salt Lake’s Karunamoyee to press for their demands.
Sources in the board said that since a large number of candidates would write the test in December, board officials would hold a “high-level” meeting next week at Nabanna to discuss ways to ensure the examinees did not face any hassle.
An education department official said they were keen on carrying out the recruitment process at the earliest because the exercise suffered a jolt following allegations of irregularities in appointments made so far.
The primary education board had in August asked the district primary school councils for information on appointment letters for the posts of teachers in primary schools, issued from 2011, because “the entire process... is under the investigation of… the Enforcement Directorate”.
Manik Bhattacharya, a former board head, is in custody since his arrest by the ED for his alleged role in irregularities in appointments.
“We have decided to hold TET every year so the vacancies are filled fast. But the TET-qualified candidates have to appear in the interview,” said a board official.